1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an automotive rearview mirror assembly which is adopted to be mounted on the outer panel of an automobile door and can be remotely controlled by a person inside an automobile for adjusting the angle of the reflecting surface of the rearview mirror to obtain a desired rear sight or view.
2. Description of the Relevant Art:
Rearview mirror assemblies mounted on the outer panels of side doors of an automobile are inclined rearwardly and inwardly with respect to a transverse axis of the automobile which extends perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the automobile body, so that the driver, in particular, inside the automobile can have a good rearview range. One known rearview mirror assembly for use on an automobile door is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,218 entitled "Adjustable and tiltable rearview mirror assembly for passenger motor vehicles". The disclosed rearview mirror assembly comprises a housing hinged to a door, a mirror swingably supported in the housing, and a control lever operatively coupled to the mirror through a link mechanism and swingable by a ball-and-socket joint. By pivotally turning the control lever, the mirror is angularly moved dependent on the turning motion of the control lever by the link mechanism.
The mirror assembly includes an axis about which the mirror is vertically turned, the axis being disposed on a line (on which the link mechanism is positioned) interconnecting the point where the control lever is swingably supported and the point where the mirror is swingably supported. If the axis were a horizontal axis parallel to ground, then since the housing as it is mounted on the door or vehicle body is inclined rearwardly and inwardly, when the mirror is turned downwardly, the sight appearing on the mirror would be shifted to the left, approaching the automobile body. According to the above U.S. Patent, this problem is solved by tilting the axis upwardly. However, the axis is also inclined inwardly because a mirror holder has a lateral axis of rotation normal to a fore-and-aft axis of rotation thereof. As a result, when the mirror is tilted upwardly and then turned to the right, i.e., in a direction away from the automobile body, the rear sight on the mirror is displaced upwardly. Therefore, the control lever has to be turned several times until the driver gets an appropriate rear sight. This process is tedious and time-consuming.